An Achromatic Shade of Black
by Souliel
Summary: If one was the body, one was the blood, and both were the mind... where's the soul? /A series of one-shots centered around Chrona, differing gender, and Raganarok for LiveJournal's 42 Souls group.
1. Blood Oath

Rain pattered on the roughly cobbled streets, darkening the stone into a much deeper hue. Nearly black, like the sky. Like-

"My blood is black, you know?" The phrase that made him. A fact in the madness, blacker than black blood. The swish of ripped fabric, and claws, barley audible in the night. "There's no where to run…"

"What're you muttering about now!" The screeching demand barely broke through haze of insanity, but it broke it. The thin boy screamed and wilted as he tried to stay afloat. _Left, foreword, parry, swing_. The demon sword must live up to it's name.

"Right, left! Your other right, idiot!" The end of the command lengthened into a cruel screech resonance. A cacophony of grinding, crashing, screeching sound that only grew louder as the wound was healed and the other monster dispatched.

_Monster, monster, they're monsters, I don't know how to deal- what's a monster, monster's are bad, nobody likes monsters, monsters kill and eat, eat, I'm a monster, monster is me because my blood is black, black, black- _**Stay with me!**

"I don't know how to deal with directions! How do I deal with it!" They both would scream. Kill it. Eat it. Then it would go away and they would be alone again and that was good.

"We gotta get out of here!" But, Lady Medusa said and would be mad, so we have to eat first because that's what she said and I won't know how to deal- "Who cares! We ain't dieing here!"

Chrona was seven. He didn't know how to deal with any of it.

But, as another knife flashed toward his unprotected side and was blocked by a needle of hardened obsidian, even as he flinched away in fear, nothing wavered. He was okay, because someone else was there now and he knew how to deal with it and he was gonna tell Chrona how some day.

He promised. So Chrona had to deal until then.


	2. Closure

Chrona didn't deal with crowds, or people, well.

He'd usually stay in his 'room' most of the time to keep away said terrifying things, but once in awhile when he did leave Shibusen, which only happened if Maka asked him outright, because he couldn't say no to Maka, he'd stay in corners or out of the bustle as much as possible. Even during school, he'd wait till the very last second, then sprint to class to avoid all of the other students.

Which is probably the reason why the hair on the back of his neck was standing up uncomfortably right now and he'd irrevocably decided that he did not like _markets_. The entire thing looked, from his position behind a lamppost, like a deathtrap that beckoned people in with ten-percent off signs as bait. Why did he ever decide to come here?

A sudden weight settled roughly on his head, as if to answer his unspoken question, before a familiar squeaky voice shouted.

"Oi, what're you standing around for! I'm fuckin' starving!" Oh yeah, his partner. Chrona gulped, but, at another forceful prompt from Raganarok, crept slowly out of his hiding place, earning some odd looks from several women standing around.

His heart started thumping faster as he edged further into open space and his hand instantly went to grip on arm defensively. It was all Raganarok's fault. Why did he need a snack now in the one period of time that the cafeteria at Shibusen was closed? His fingers turned pale around the pouch nestled in his palm. It was the only thing he'd brought and the only thing he really owned in the world. Plus it was filled with half of his technical 'life savings'.

Chrona didn't even know if he knew how to deal with money, or buying things, because he'd never done anything like that before. When the zombie-man had come to give him the 'allowance' for the first time, he'd gone into Mr. Corner for an hour before he got up the courage to just throw the envelope in his desk drawer, and now he had to actually spend it. Chrona gulped, then let out a squeak as the automatic doors glided open in front of him.

"Get candy!" Raganarok shouted suddenly, frightening a passersby, then snickered as she ran away.

"I-I don't think they sell the type you want here." Chrona answered mournfully and grabbed a bright red plastic basket, quickly being overwhelmed by the pure mass of items for sale and the elevator music that serenaded them all. He got a snarl and a bump on the head in response.

"Then get something spicy!"

"Okay… Don't poke me there…" The boy lightly protested as Raganarok slung an arm around his neck and nudged his nose with one pudgy fist, blocking the many stares they were getting and causing Chrona to wobble a little as he moved through the isles. "Stop!"

"Oh ho!" The black-blood thing cackled before pulling back abruptly back. "I want those!"

Chrona nearly toppled over as his partner lunged to snatch a bag of some jalapeno chips, then had to whine a bit so that Raganarok wouldn't eat them right then. "We have to pay first, that's the rule."

"Stupid, don't tell me what to do!" The bay winced as his head was once again abused by a tiny fist, but got the bag settled into the basket without a really big commotion. "I want juice too!"

Chrona sighed, he really just wanted to get out and away, but obligingly head back to where a sign declared 'Juice, Eggs, and Dairy.' A process almost exactly like the first was repeated when Raganarok spotted the kind he wanted, but this time the boy was ready for it and managed not to lose his stable footing.

"Now go _pay_ for it, bitch!" Chrona nodded and took one step toward the front, but stopped when he heard a particularly loud whisper behind him.

"Oh my gosh, Rachel! Is that a boy or a girl!" A chill ran up his spine at the girlish giggles that followed the comment. Raganarok's grip tightened on his hair, almost imperceptibly and a faint growl ran out as another high-pitched voice answered.

"Holy- I can't tell!" More laughing. Chrona watched his knuckles whiten on the basket's handle and willed his legs to move again. "You should go ask! It'll be funny!"

'_No…'_ Chrona shut his eyes and prepared for the inevitable. This had happened before, in the halls of Shibusen and out in other places. Every time was just as horrible as the last, but he too much of a coward to run away now…

"Oi _bitch_!" Suddenly a completely different voice broke in, stopping the giggles abruptly, and Chrona snapped his eyes open and let out a whimper of surprise as a small arm hooked around his head protectively. "We don't fuckin' have to tell you fuckers _nothing_! And I fucking _dare_ you to ask!"

At this point, a horrible snarl echoed in Chrona's ear and he barely heard the girls' squeals of fear and there footsteps quickly fade away. Raganarok panted once then moved his arms back so that they were resting in their usual places. Surprisingly, Chrona missed the touch, which was new to him in respects to Raganarok.

"You alright?" Chrona blinked in shock this time and wondered in Raganarok might be sick, then wondered if he was sick too because his face suddenly felt really warm.

"Y-yeah."

"Good, now go pay 'cause I'm still starving!"

The little hug the boy received, instead of his usual whap on the head, just seemed to make his sudden 'illness' worse.

* * *

><p><strong>Have you ever been asked whether you were a boy or a girl before? No? It's horrible, shaming, embarrassing, and just plain humiliating. Don't ever ask someone that, just be confused and live with it.<strong>


	3. Voice

I talk to myself.

I've heard people say that this is a really bad habit _- sometimes that's true –_ but I've also heard it be called a really good habit, because who knows me better than myself? _No one. _It freaks people out though, I know it does.

"Well why should you care, stupid?"

"Because… it's weird and I'm-"

"Am a spineless wimp, yeah. But look at the old lady over there; she's staring at you like a fucking crazy person." I know my mother can't hear me, but I still wince and shush myself, looking away from the window. My mom's out on the patio, entertaining. Not even looking at me. I'm supposed to stay inside because it's best for me. Mom knows best. "No, no she's not. She doesn't mind it, she said she didn't."

I stare into the hall's mirror, seeing sorrow on the pale, pink-haired face that peers back, all gaunt cheekbones and huge, dark eyes. "She's lying."

"Y-you can't know that."

"Yes I can. It's so fucking obvious, you've just got your stupid head up your ass." I suddenly remember that I'm also supposed to be in my room, the dark room, and I skitter around clumsily, gripping my arm because I'm in the living room. "W-Wah? How'd I get in here? They're going to see me…"

"So what?"

"M-mother will be angry if they do." I'm pouting I know and my voice screeches up into a whine, but I don't make a move toward the hall. Who the fuck cares?

"I don't like the dark, but the old lady says it calms me down."

"I hate being calm." I look away from the mirror, skinny shoulders, ribs showing, and drag my feet over the carpet _skhhhh-skhhhh_. "I can't believe she forgot to lock the fucking door, who even _does_ that?"

I used to go see this man, when I was younger. He was called a therapist. _I don't even know what that __**is**_. But, anyway, a lot of people said that he was supposed to make me better at handling crowds and stuff like that. His name was Dr. Stein and he terrified me. _Everything terrifies you_.

The back of my knuckles hit wood, hard wood, and I grip my hand by the black sleeve, guiding it up to the doorknob, to the lock. "This door opens inward, you know?" I flip it, then flip it back.

"Why the fuck should I care about that?"

"I just thought it was stupid, is all. What if someone wanted to get out and it was broken or melted then you couldn't push it out and you'd be trapped and you'd have to die just because you built the stupid fucking door to open inward like a freaking idiot-!" I realize I'm shouting and slap a hand over my face, eyes darting back and forth, sideways and up. "No shush, do you want to go back?"

Anyway, Mr. Stein had other people there too, always. They were my age. It was like a class, I giggled, a school full of crazy kids.

"I-I'm not crazy! Stop s-saying that…" There was this one kid whose name was _actually_ Kid! It was really easy to remember, so I let it roll around on my tongue, _Kiiii-iiido_. He always said it was never just that though, it was Death the Kid. Like he was a baby _Death_ or something, he was weird. "I-I liked him."

"Of course you did, you like freaking everybody. You're like a fucking puppy or something, eating out of people's hands!" Kid had these two sisters. They weren't sisters with him, though, just with each other, but you could tell they were his too anyway. They'd lived on the streets and had seen a lot of stuff. "Bad stuff."

"It sounded awesome to me." I stop flipping the lock and leave it as it was to go sit in the middle of the couch. Right in the middle. "Kid had OCD too."

"Yeah, he did. Nearly ripped out my fucking hair first time we saw him."

The older sister's name was E-Liz-Abeth and the younger's was Patti-tricia, but they didn't go by the full ones either. Just Liz and Patti. Thompson. The Thompson sisters, black devils of Brooklyn they were called. "Some devils."

"I liked t-them." Well they weren't as scary as Dr.-Mr. Stein, even though Patti had a loud laugh- "She was crazier than you!" And Liz had dark, dark eyes that sometimes made her kick over people's block towers for no reason. Kid could always make her stop though; they'd do anything for him. He saved them. "Like a price in scrawny, symmetrical armor. They should've gone with me; I could've showed them some real fun."

"You're disgusting." They weren't the only ones there, though, there were others with different names to remember and different things they did. "Do you remember Black Star?"

Black Star was a ninja. He told me that. I'm a ninja! He'd scream it, then he'd always try to bring in knives to show us. Bombs too, matches. Anything he could get his hands on, really. "He was an attention hog. He promised to protect me. But, where is he now."

I itch at a scab on my leg that stretches across my thigh, bruising and not really healing too well. "What are you a fucking expert? Mother loves me." Black Star always, _always_ had Tsubaki with him. They were almost the same person, it was insane. "Those doors open inward, you know."

"Yeah, yeah." Well, Tsubaki didn't like the knives and stuff. She had these scars, you know, on her face. Her brother went crazy and had hurt her real bad, like Black Star's parents, Ms. Marie had told us. Man I miss Ms. Marie. "I put worms in her coffee once, remember? Mother told me too."

Her brother was dead now though, and so were Black Star's parents. They'd still have nightmares during naptime anyways. They'd clutch each other across from me and you'd feel so lonely, but then I had Soul. Soul slept next to me. He was a _cool_ kid. He never got mad at anything I did.

We used to play in the sandbox together, you and him. And he'd talk to me even though you talked about him too, right there. Soul had red eyes, you'd say, mother has a red vase like that at home. "Cool." He'd say, back. I broke that vase after we stopped going and Mother had been angry. So angry.

"Slapped you right across the fucking didn't she? It h-hurt."

Soul had white hair too, like snow. He'd let me touch it once and you'd remembered not to pull like a good kid. He'd even given me a smile, then, and I still have it too, locked into a corner of my dark room in the form a tiny, sharp, _sharp_ tooth. I poke the scars on my hand from before I'd learned not to hold it so tightly, remember Soul's shark smile. Soul never really smiled all too much, after Maka.

Maka. My heart stops and thumps whenever I think of her name. I loved Maka, she was my everything and Soul's too. Soul could play the piano, but he had brother issues and parent issues and just some issues in general until Maka came along. He used to jump off of buildings a lot, Ms. Marie had said, that's why he can't walk too far too fast or really stand up straight. Maka didn't care though, she couldn't run fast either, especially after she died.

Maka had an illness, you found that out yourself, listening under doors and being a fucking creeper. "I-it was important." She wasn't doing so well, so they couldn't put her in a real school. That's why she came to us even though she wasn't like the rest. Maka was happy. Maka had two parents with sad, happy eyes who came to pick her up early everyday so they could go eat ice-cream and have doctor's appointments.

Maka was my best friend and Soul's too. She was the one between us and she was the pretty green sun that grew us together. "You make me sick sometimes."

"I-I know…" Maka had beautiful blonde hair that her mom had done up in pigtails every day. She said that she used to have no hair, because of her sickness, but you didn't believe her sometimes. I believed her. Everybody did.

Maka everybody's friend. She got Soul to start talking and smiling again, you did too, but not as fast and not as good. Maka tamed Black Star. Maka hugged Liz, she played with Patti, she talked to Kid, and she sat with Tsubaki. Side to side, back to back, until Tsubaki was giving everyone gentle smiles and reminding Black Star not to eat too fast with a smile, lovely voice.

"She was the one who baked."

"Yeah." Maka even quieted you for a while, she gave you your first hug and she took my first kiss too. I loved Maka. "I loved her too."

"You never said so."

"I know." Maka was everything to me. She was more than mother even, more than Ms. Marie. Maka died, though. I'm sure she didn't mean to, but she killed us all too when she did.

Maka faded away from us and Soul didn't smile for a long long time.

"We should go find her. Where would she even be, though? Not in a place like this where the stupid doors open inward." I'm at the door again, even though I don't remember getting up I must have been here awhile. My leg hurts. You shouldn't have picked at the scab.

"You did that, idiot!" Blood soaks my black clothes, invisible. Black blood, hehe.

"M-Maka is probably wondering where we are by now." It's getting dark outside and Mother has turned on the outside lights for the guests. She won't let them come in though, because of you. I glance at the clock, don't read it, then open the door because it's not really broken or melted or anything, that would be stupid. There's grass under my bare feet and I shiver because it's wet already with dew.

"Which way?"

"I don't know…"

"Jeez, I have to do everything!" You walk, south. Toward the harbor. Maka always loved swimming. You all went once, as a class and she tried to teach you but you almost drowned instead. Mr. Stein had to go in and save me, but you'd slapped him because _you didn't like Mr. Stien_. Not like mother did anyway.

"I can't wait to see Maka again."

"Me neither."

* * *

><p><strong>I didn't even mean to write a fanfiction when I started this. It was just going to be a drabble for a character I made up, but then she kind of sounded like Crona and their alter ego sounded like Raganarok. So, this story gets an update! Sorry if you thought it was dead, I'm planning on trucking on as best as I can.**


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